My husband and I just did a 4 night cruise on the Aquamarine. This is our first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it with other than what others have told me.
There were a lot of teenagers on the boat on school field trips. They were generally well behaved after they settled down after a day or so.
The ship is almost 40 years old - it appears the decor hasn't changed. The food was fair at best. The sit-down restaurant was clean and nice, but sometimes took forever to get your food. Often orders were forgotten. The first day we spent almost an hour after being served our salad before we got our main course. We then started eating in the cafeteria "Bistro" when it was open - the food there was just ok, sometimes bad. One day almost every tray at the cafeteria was empty even though the lunch hour was only half over. We waited until they finally refilled the buffet table. Cocktails are watered down, or sickeningly sweet.
All cabins apparently have twin beds. We stayed in a "superior" view room. The beds were hard, pillows thin, sheets/bedspread threadbare. The shower in the bathroom was smaller than a phonebooth - could barely turn around in it. There was a strong urine smell at times in the bathroom. The staff that cleaned the room/bathroom were very nice and very attentive, but there wasn't anything they could do about that stink in the bathroom.
We had a few hours at each port - it's a cattle call to get everyone off the boat, then a rush to make it back in a relatively short time. The only port we had more than a few hours at was in Rhodes.
Shore tours arranged through the ship are pricey - I can recommend the Santorini, Rhodes/Lindos, and Ephesus tours. They were all pretty good and worthwhile.
After four days/nights of sleeping on uncomfortable mattresses, eating mediocre food, being herded off the boat at ports, I was ready for the cruise to be over. The last "day" of the cruise is arriving in the port of Piraeus in Athens and leaving the boat at ~ 7 am.
Others that were with our group that have been on Celebrity and Princess cruises rated this cruise pretty low - about a C- or a D.
If you want a quick taste of each island and don't mind kinda roughing it, then maybe this is the cruise for you. Unfortunately this experience has really soured me on the idea of future cruises.
Louis Hellenic "Aquamarine" reviews, please
in Celestyal Cruises
Posted
My husband and I just did a 4 night cruise on the Aquamarine. This is our first cruise so I don't have anything to compare it with other than what others have told me.
There were a lot of teenagers on the boat on school field trips. They were generally well behaved after they settled down after a day or so.
The ship is almost 40 years old - it appears the decor hasn't changed. The food was fair at best. The sit-down restaurant was clean and nice, but sometimes took forever to get your food. Often orders were forgotten. The first day we spent almost an hour after being served our salad before we got our main course. We then started eating in the cafeteria "Bistro" when it was open - the food there was just ok, sometimes bad. One day almost every tray at the cafeteria was empty even though the lunch hour was only half over. We waited until they finally refilled the buffet table. Cocktails are watered down, or sickeningly sweet.
All cabins apparently have twin beds. We stayed in a "superior" view room. The beds were hard, pillows thin, sheets/bedspread threadbare. The shower in the bathroom was smaller than a phonebooth - could barely turn around in it. There was a strong urine smell at times in the bathroom. The staff that cleaned the room/bathroom were very nice and very attentive, but there wasn't anything they could do about that stink in the bathroom.
We had a few hours at each port - it's a cattle call to get everyone off the boat, then a rush to make it back in a relatively short time. The only port we had more than a few hours at was in Rhodes.
Shore tours arranged through the ship are pricey - I can recommend the Santorini, Rhodes/Lindos, and Ephesus tours. They were all pretty good and worthwhile.
After four days/nights of sleeping on uncomfortable mattresses, eating mediocre food, being herded off the boat at ports, I was ready for the cruise to be over. The last "day" of the cruise is arriving in the port of Piraeus in Athens and leaving the boat at ~ 7 am.
Others that were with our group that have been on Celebrity and Princess cruises rated this cruise pretty low - about a C- or a D.
If you want a quick taste of each island and don't mind kinda roughing it, then maybe this is the cruise for you. Unfortunately this experience has really soured me on the idea of future cruises.